Under the Flames
by Akheilos and Delphin Inc
Summary: A bomb explodes and seemingly targets Tony. That's pretty much the best summary I can give. Please read and review. Rated T just to be extremely sure. It's complete.
1. Chapter 1: Flames and Sarcasm

A small red light. A flash. A bang. Dust swirling everywhere. Small but strong hands grabbed his shoulders and dragged him out of the burning building, hands that should have not been able to drag a fully grown man out of a burning building.

The kid looked around herself, put the man down, and ran back into the building. The fire clawing at her clothes, singing them off her skin, she still made it through to the back. There! The body. Lifeless, it seemed.

She tried. She pulled him towards the only opening that had not been consumed by the fire yet- the window. But she knew that there was no hope for him. Tears streaming down her eyes, she smashed in the window, leaving one last glance with the dead young man, and jumped.

Her feet hit the ground, and she ran. Trying to escape the haunting image of him, trying to get away. Trying to get away from herself. Yes, she had saved that other man's life. But not _his_. Now he was gone. She ran and ran, until she crumpled on the floor of her home, exhausted and poisoned, slowly dying; the pain would be even greater than _his_ as she lay there, waiting to die.

--

"Ya Gibbs." Gibbs answered his phone. He looked around himself, a nearly empty bottle of bourbon stood next to him. "What?! Yes, I'll be there in a few."

He quickly got up and put on some normal clothes, then made his way to his car in a hurry. As he raced out into the center of the city, he called McGee.

"Special Agent McGee."

"Ya, McGee, I know who I'm calling! Get Ziva and come to the crime scene… Yeah, I know it's a crime scene because it was a bomb, McGee."

"On it, boss. What about Tony?"

"Oh he's already at the scene." Gibbs said and hung up, pushing his foot harder on the gas pedal.

Tony looked up through the haze and felt a strange chill, even though the area was still warm from the newly extinguished fire. What had happened? All he remembered was working out at the gym, looking over at a young man and suddenly _kaboom_, the place was on fire. A bomb? On who? Why? Why the gym? Too many questions.

"Tony!" Someone ran towards him from the darkness and pulled him into an air- crushing hug.

"Hi Abs. What happened? Why are you here?"

"Well, Tony, someone just tried to blow you up."

"Oh, like I didn't notice that." Tony noted sarcastically. When Abby just gave him a disapproving glare, he just smiled. "I'm glad I'm alive, Abby. Where's the rest of the team?"

"Right here, DiNozzo." Gibbs' voice came from behind him.

"Oh, hey boss, McGoo, Ziva."

"Hello Tony." Ziva said, looking around herself. "How are you feeling?"

"I am feeling very good, except for the fact that there is an oxygen mask on my face and the local gym just got blown up, yeah."

"Ya feeling sarcastic, DiNozzo?"

"Uh, sorry boss, no, boss, I'm not."

"The stop making sarcastic remarks!"

"Um, the building was empty, except for one body that was found towards the back." McGee informed them.

"Do we know who?"

"Uh, that would be Lance Corporal Daniel Aaron."

"I guess that makes it our case. Where's Ducky?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"He's here, he's here, and Mr. Palmer is accompanying him." Ducky's voice came through the lights, speaking in third person.

"All right. McGee, Ziva, go inside. DiNozzo, get some rest. Duck, the body's all yours."

McGee, Ziva, Ducky and Palmer disappeared to the back of the building, while Gibbs stayed to talk with Tony.

"Any clue on how you got out, DiNozzo?"

"No, boss. I was lifting waits and looked to my right. Then there was just this explosion and someone grabbed my shoulders and dragged me out. Judging by the force they used, they weren't very old, but they were strong for their age. Ow, my back, my back!" Tony cringed in pain as he slumped down on the side of the ambulance.

"Someone get him to the ER!" Gibbs shouted over to the doctors, and when he was sure that Tony was safely on his way to the hospital, he went to see how his team was coming along.

"Got anything for me, Duck?"

"Yes, Jethro. Time of death was at about eleven thirty last night and cause was blunt force trauma. He was hit by something very hard; my suspicion lies with those weights back there."

"McGee, bag 'em."

--

"Lance Corporal Daniel Aaron joined five years ago. He has a completely clean record and he also has perfect scores in everything he does. He was supposed to be sent to Iraq, but I guess that those plans won't be fulfilled anymore."

"What about family?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.

"He has a little sister, Danni Aaron. Their parents died in a car crash several years ago and there are no other living relatives."

"Where is she?"

"She goes to a boarding school in Maryland, and sometimes stays in D.C. at her brother's on weekends."

"Where is she now?"

"She was supposed to visit him on Saturday, so she is still at school. But, wait, no, she is not at her school. Half an hour ago, they reported her missing."

"Well, let's go."


	2. Chapter 2: Runaways and Poisoned

"Agent Gibbs?" A woman walked towards the team. "Thank god you came. I am Danni's dorm leader, Alicia Almudena. Danni has disappeared and now I just heard the news about her brother. Do you know where to find her?" She spoke with a Spanish accent.

"We were actually hoping that you could help us. Do you know any place where she liked to go in particular?"

"She liked the woods, but we have already looked there. They are very small and there aren't many places to hide."

"So I guess it's safe to say that she isn't on the grounds any more. How well did you know Danni?"

"She has been here ever since she was only four years old, but no one ever really knew her."

"Was there anything abnormal about her behaviour lately?"

"Well, she walked around looking as if she had just seen the angel of death since about three months ago. But it didn't affect her school work."

"McGee, find out what happened three months ago. Mrs Almudena, what about room mates?"

"Please, call me Alicia. Danni had two room mates that she has been with since she first got here. But they left before this year started and now she lives in a single room."

"Uh, boss, three months ago, Daniel found out that he was going to Iraq." McGee said, looking up from his iPod. "But why would someone want to kill someone going to Iraq?"

"I don't know, McGee. Maybe you should find out. Thanks for your time, Alicia. We'll get back to you as soon as we know something about Danni's whereabouts."

--

"DiNozzo!"

"Yeah, boss?"

"You said that someone young but strong pulled you out of the gym? Is it possible that that person was about twelve or thirteen years old? And female?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Why?"

"I've gotta go check with Abby."

--

"What'cha got, Abs?"

"Gibbs, your timing is perfect, as always. I matched the finger prints on Daniel Aaron and the walls around the window to a Danni Aaron. Any chance they're somehow related?"

"She's his sister, Abs. Good work. Got anything else?"

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask." Abby smiled. "There were prints on those weights. I am still running them through AFIS, and hopefully we will soon get a match. So tell me about Danni."

"I haven't met her, Abs. She's missing."

Just then came a beeping noise from Abby's computer.

"Positive match to Lance Corporal James Fuentas."

"Good job, Abs." Gibbs set the Caf- Pow! that he had been carrying on her desk and headed towards autopsy.

"You know, mare people die yearly from vending machines than from lightning," Ducky was speaking to Daniel Aaron's corpse. "Vending machines that give people those kind of caffeinated drinks that are running in your veins, my poor boy."

"Got anything for me, Duck?"

"Yes, Jethro, I do. This young man has a lot of caffeine and sugar in his body. But that is irrelevant right now. My suspicions were confirmed that Mr. Aaron here died of blunt force trauma. But I also found some peculiar wounds on his back that occurred post mortem."

"What kind of wounds?"

"Scratches by fingernails on his shoulders and pieces of glass that have cut into him. He was lying beneath a broken window when we found him, but something tells me that that's not where he died. A desperate little girl, after saving a random man's life, goes back in to rescue her brother, finds out she can't hoist him through the window, and breaks it and leaves. That takes a lot of courage, Jethro."

"Thanks, Duck."

--

Tony DiNozzo walked into the deserted bullpen with a bandage on his left upper arm.

"DiNozzo, you're late. Grab your gear."

"Yeah, boss, I was just- coming."

--

Gibbs, DiNozzo and Ziva looked at the alley that the broken window of the gym led to.

"Well, someone definitely broke this window. Sort of reminds me of this movie with-"

"We don't want to hear it, Tony. It is also clear that someone ran down this way, bleeding. They were presumably poisoned by the smoke." Ziva remarked.

"That means that where ever Danni is, we've got to find her. And fast."


	3. Chapter 3: Spanish and Chases

The team ran through the streets of D.C., following the blood trail that had been left.

Meanwhile, Danni looked up. Barely managing to hoist herself up, she struggled to get to the door. She had to tell someone. And she had to get to the hospital. Clutching the sides of buildings, she tried to get to a main street where someone would see her.

"Boss, the building's deserted. But there is a blood pool over there where someone lay down. A pretty small someone."

"Well, where is that small someone now, DiNozzo?"

"Looks like they ran this way."

"David, DiNozzo, follow the path. McGee, locate the cell phone of James Fuentas. If he wanted to wipe out the Aaron family, he won't stop at little girls."

"She is thirteen, boss. She is not a little girl." Ziva glared at Gibbs for a moment.

"Go!"

As Tony and Ziva followed Danni's trail further down the alley, McGee got a hit on Fuentas' phone.

"Boss, he's running somewhere."

"Where?!"

"No, looks more like he's chasing someone. He's right on-. Boss, he's right in front of us."

Gibbs and McGee both looked up just in time to see someone small run by, and about a second later, a grown man follow her.

"McGee, call DiNozzo." Gibbs yelled as he chased after Fuentas. "And tell him Fuentas has a gun!"

--

Why was James chasing her? Why had he killed Daniel? Why did he want her dead? He had been such a good friend.

Danni looked behind her, but James was still running after her, his gun pulled. How come no one noticed? Was it because he was a marine and people thought he was aloud to chase someone with a gun?

Her feet pounded on the pavement, sweat running down her face. Her benefit was that she was small and agile. And sports was her strongest. But that she was small was also bad; no one thought of a small girl running through the streets of D.C.

--

"Ziva, we're going the wrong direction. Fuentas is chasing Danni the other way." Tony shouted.

"Well, what do we do?"

"I know a shortcut. Gibbs will come from the front and we'll come from the back. Then he'll have no where to go but the street, and that wouldn't be a good idea, unless he wants to die."

They ran to catch up with Fuentas at the same time that Gibbs and McGee ran towards him.

James Fuentas was unknowingly running right into a trap.

--

When Danni saw the agents running towards her, she stopped, turned on the spot, and bolted in the opposite direction. Silently praying that James wouldn't notice her running past him, she ran hard, only to run right into a man whose face seemed familiar. It was the man she had dragged out of the building. The man that should have been Daniel.

"Danni Aaron?"

She just looked up at him, nodded, and tried to push away.

"Permítanme ir! Leyfðu mér fara! Lasciatemi andare!" She shouted, getting confused between Spanish, Icelandic and Italian.

"Whoa, kid, English please!"

"Tony, she told you to let her go. We have to catch Fuentas!"

"Usted está siguiendo James?"

"Si."

"Está tratando de huir por el callejón en el. Tu gente tendrá que tener a alguien en el frente y la parte de atrás de la misma. Él es muy fuerte. Tenga cuidado."

"Bueno." Ziva answered.

"English, please!"

"Tony, call Gibbs. There is an alleyway where Fuentas is trying to escape through."

"Ziva, stay here with Danni and make sure that she doesn't go anywhere." Tony was already running towards the alley that Danni had pointed to.

"Okay, Tony. Danni, ¿cómo se sabe, James?"

"Él es amigo de Daniel. También hablo Inglés, si es que lo hace más fácil para usted."

"No me importa. ¿Qué prefieres?"

"Yo también no me importa. I also don't care."

"Okay. You said James was a friend of Daniel, yes?"

"English isn't your first language, is it?"

"No, but let us stay on topic."

"Yeah, he was Daniel's friend. How many languages do you speak?"

"Ten. Do you have any idea why he was trying to kill you?"

"No. He was there when-" Danni never finished her sentence. She started coughing violently; the toxic fumes of the fire had reached her lungs.

"Okay, just stay calm. Stay calm, Danni." Ziva tried o stay calm herself as she dialled an ambulance.

--

"Federal agents, stop!" Tony shouted at Fuentas as he followed him down the narrow alley. Fuentas didn't listen and kept on running, trying to shoot over his shoulder at Tony and in front of him at Gibbs and McGee.

Tony was gaining on him rapidly, but soon figured out that the closer he got to Fuentas, the greater his chance became of getting shot. Luckily, Fuentas was distracted momentarily by Gibbs and McGee, so Tony tackled him from behind.

Trying to fight Tony off, Fuentas fell to the ground.

"Put your hands behind your back, Fuentas!"

Gibbs and McGee reached Tony and kicked away James Fuentas' gun, while Tony handcuffed him made him stand up.

Looking around himself, Gibbs asked Tony "Where's David? And Danni?"

"Sorry, boss, I left them back there."

"¿Estás hablando de Danni Aaron? Buena suerte tratando de encontrar a ese chica loco. Es bueno si ella muere a causa de ese humo. Ella familia se lo merece. Ellos merecen ser eliminados."

"For the last time today, English please!"

"Are you talking about Danni Aaron? Good luck trying to find that crazy kid. It's good if she dies from that smoke. Her family deserves it. They deserve to be eliminated. And that DiNozzo person. He needs to die."

"Well, Mr. Fuentas, that DiNozzo person sort of didn't die. He is standing right behind you." Tony said from behind Fuentas.


	4. Chapter 4: The Interrogation is Short

"Speak!" Gibbs screamed at Fuentas, who was sitting in the interrogation room. "Why did you try to kill one of my agents? Why are you trying to get rid of the Aaron family? Speak, dammit!"

"I was hired by someone. They said they needed a certain man named Anthony DiNozzo dead. They paid well."

"How much? And do _they_ have a name? And why Danni and Daniel Aaron?"

"No, they don't have a name. The person just made a call. Said they'd give me 50 k if I killed DiNozzo."

"Phone number?"

"Don't have any."

"Well isn't it in your phone?"

"No. Everything was erased this morning. My phone fell into a river."

"Like I'm gonna believe that. Why were you trying to kill the Aaron kids?"

"That's personal."

"Not anymore."

"Okay, we had a bet. I lost and got angry at him."

"Angry enough to want his whole family killed?"

"I want a lawyer."

"You know, I don't think that even the best of lawyers could get you out of this mess, Fuentas. Why did you want to kill them, for the last time, why?"

"Daniel was having an affair with my girlfriend. I wanted to take from him what he cared for most. It was a coincidence that he was in the same gym as that DiNozzo guy."

"And how are you sure of that?"

"I checked her phone. He was calling her regularly and meeting her, according to the text messages."

"Does she have a name?"

"Tara Niccolo. Can I go now?"

"Yup. To prison. For attempted murder of a federal agent."

"Hey, man, I was just following orders."

"Oh yeah, form who?"

"Okay. The name is Alicia Almudena."


	5. Chapter 5: Some Messed Up People

"You believe him, boss?"

"No."

"No, neither do I. he answered too quickly." DiNozzo said, rushing to keep up with Gibbs. "But why is he lying?"

"Well, why don't you go find out?"

"On it, boss." DiNozzo said, turned around and walked back towards the interrogation room.

"So, Fuentas. Fuentas, Fuentas, Fuentas. Can I call you James, or do you prefer Jamie?"

"It's Fuentas for you, DiNozzo!"

"That would be Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Jamie."

"Fuentas."

"Whatever. Why did you want me dead?"

"I didn't!"

"Then who did?"

"I told your boss. Alicia Almudena."

"Your answer was too quick and you looked to the bottom left corner. You were lying, Fuentas!"

--

"Tara Niccolo?" Gibbs and Ziva stood in front of her door.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

"We are investigating Daniel Aaron's death. May we come in?"

Tara gasped as she clapped her and to her mouth and tears came to her eyes.

"D- Daniel's d- dead? Yes, yes, c- come in. Please."

Gibbs and Ziva sat down on the couch in the living room while Tara closed the door and sat down across from them with a box of tissues on her lap.

"Judging by your reaction, you knew Daniel pretty well. Boyfriend? Lover?"

"B- boyfriend? No! D- Daniel and Danni are my cousins."

"And you just heard of their deaths?" Ziva inquired.

"I've lost all family connection except for them. Long story."

"So you're seeing James Fuentas, yes?"

"James? Yes. Why? What does he have to do with this?"

"Well, he attempted murder on one of my agents and his bomb killed Daniel."

"James? Why would he do that?"

"He said you were having an affair with Daniel."

"Daniel was my cousin! We had lunch every week and I was having problems with James so I was texting him."

"Problems?"

"Yeah. James is seeing someone. Alicia, I think, is her name."

"Thanks for your time, Tara."

--

"Okay. Got it, boss." DiNozzo hung up.

"So, James Fuentas, tell me the whole big story, or do you want me to tell you my theory first, hmm?"

"I-" Fuentas started.

"Fine, my theory it is then. You were having an affair with one of my ex- girlfriends, Alicia Albernota. You knew my name because she had mentioned it once or twice. But, your girlfriend found out. You checked her phone and found Daniel. Not knowing his last name, you didn't know that he was her cousin. You blew him and me up and said Alicia's name so that we would go after her and you would get away clean. But Danni saw you. And she was planning to go to Alicia and Tara and tell them everything. That wouldn't look too good to you, wouldn't it?"

"I want a lawyer!"

"Yeah, well I want a cappuccino! And if that girl, Danni, dies because of you, we'll have you for murder, attempted murder, and murder again, and blowing up a public building."

--

In the ICU, Danni woke up with an oxygen mask on her face. Why was she in the ICU? Were Tara and Alicia okay? She prayed that James would be behind bars by the time she got out. At least she had saved that other man, DiNozzo, she thought was his name.


End file.
